A Mother's Love
by ttfan111robstar1
Summary: When their sons go missing, Fran Morgan and Diana Reid team up to bring their boys home.


**"A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things, and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in it's path." -Agatha Christie**

Diana was awakened by a nurse at noon, telling her that she had a visitor. Putting on her pink robe and matching slippers, she groggily made her way out of her room. The foggy haze in her mind lifted when she saw a very good friend waiting for her- Fran Morgan, the mother of agent Derek Morgan. Of course, Diana didn't know that her son was an agent of the FBI, and no one would ever tell her that. She had met Fran through their sons on a chance encounter some three years ago when Morgan's plane was in a layover in Las Vegas. He was going to take his mother on vacation, but they were stuck overnight in Vegas due to serious weather. Knowing that, he decided to see if Reid was vacationing in the area so that they could chat for a little while. As it turned out, he was visiting his mother in the sanitarium. That's where Fran first met Diana Reid. Their conversation only lasted a few minutes- and mostly consisted of them bragging about their children, but it was enough to form a bond between them. Though they had met in person only once, they had continued talking and become very close. She saw the seriousness in her face, and instantly knew something was wrong.

"Hello, Diana."

"Hello, Fran. What's happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know you wouldn't be here unless something was dreadfully wrong."

"I know your maternal instincts must be going off."

When she mentioned it, Diana was instantly made aware of it.

"Our sons are in danger." Fran said, seriously. Diana took a deep breath before nodding. Her panic was instantaneous, but she forced herself to keep calm for Spencer.

"What do you know?" The alien words came out of her lips.

"Only that much. I don't know where they are." The sadness in her voice was undeniable.

"Maybe Spencer could give us a clue. I didn't get to open my letter from him last night."

Fran nodded, face an emotionless mask. Hope had drained from her body the instant she knew her son was in danger.

"Let me take my medication, and then we'll see what this is all about."

Although she was only gone ten minutes, to Fran it felt like an eternity.

They reconvened in Diana's room. She frantically opened her son's latest letter.

_Dear Momma,_

_Today I'm writing to you from Amador City, California. It's been a tough day dealing with a series of abductions, but I've seen worse._

She stopped right there and looked to Fran. "He's in Amador City, California working on a series of abductions."

"I'll book us a flight."

"Are you sure about this?"

"A mother knows."

With that, Diana's instinct went into overdrive and she nodded.

Diana frantically showered and dressed. Her illness was the furthest thing from her mind- her baby was in serious trouble, and it was up to her to save him. She explained her situation calmly to her psychiatrist, and he allowed her to leave with the stipulation that she remained supervised. She was quick to agree, and began packing an overnight bag for herself, taking extra care to put in her medications. She and Fran arrived two hours before their flight was scheduled to take off. Diana's fear of flying would not hinder her today. Her baby was in terrible danger. No fear could keep a mother from saving her child. She knew that all too well. They ate at the food court, and although they had each brought books to occupy their minds, they both knew they wouldn't be able to read with their children in such grave danger.

The seconds crawled by with the speed of a slug. Each moment made everything more intense. By the time they landed at Sacramento International Airport, their worry was at it's peak. Rushing to the baggage claim before pooling their money and buying a limousine to take them the 54 miles to their destination. They pulled up the privacy window so that they could speak privately.

"There's one thing I don't understand." Said Diana.

Fran raised an eyebrow.

"How and why did they take them both? If they wanted information they could have just taken Spencer. Our sons our opposites in respect to their attributes. Spencer isn't as well endowed physically as your son, and, while Derek is extremely cunning in his own right, he doesn't have Spencer's brain."

Fran paused to consider this. It was an excellent point.

"Maybe their abductor needed them both. Derek for his muscle and Spencer for his brains."

"I don't understand how they could have captured your son." Diana said, quietly. "Spencer I can understand, being weaker physically, but the possibility of Derek being captured with his level of strength is surprising to me."

"I don't know either. I just hope that they're okay." She whispered.

"From your lips to God's ear." Diana commented.

"We have to figure out what they could be using our boys for."

"I have a feeling that it's not going to be good."

Suddenly, Diana was awash with sensation. Her maternal instincts were overloading, and she was fighting back the tears that pricked her eyes. Despite her best efforts, a single tear slid down her right cheek, just enough for Fran to see it. She wrapped an arm around her friend.

"He's in so much pain." She whispered, heartbroken. She couldn't understand why somebody would hurt her baby. Her sweet little boy... abused. It sent chills down her spine.

Fran was struck with an idea. "That's it!" She said. Diana looked up at her, confused.

"They must have taken Spencer to get Derek to help them."

It was a brilliant thought. Diana wondered why she hadn't thought of it earlier.

"The real question is what they need Derek for." Said Diana, wiping her tear away.

"He has such high credentials, he could get into any government agency if he needed to..."

"But what could they be doing with them all the way out here? If they wanted them to infiltrate a government agency, shouldn't they be in Washington or Virgina?"

"Not if they had the technology out here." It was a revolutionary statement.

"Maybe that's how we can find them."

"But how?"

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out."

"We'll get our babies back." Diana vowed. Fran nodded, desperately willing the statement to be true.

Fran used her cell phone to find all the statistics she could on Amador City. The population was 186 people, and it was one of the smallest towns in the country. They listed housing, famous landmarks, and other things on wikipedia. She would have to trust them. Her son was there, she could feel it. Now all she had to do was figure out where.

They got out of the limousine half a mile away from the town, not wanting to draw more attention to themselves than necessary. The architecture and landscaping was absolutely breathtaking, but they couldn't enjoy it because of the grim circumstances surrounding their visit. Fran dressed in a white blouse and blue jeans while Diana wore a brown cardigan, floral top, and jeans. They did not look extraordinary, but they were women on a mission. They had no way of telling where their sons might be, but they trusted their maternal instincts to guide them. They began on main street, passing the famous Hotel Imperial on their way. Then, slowly, they walked down streets, passing ordinary and unsuspecting suburban houses. Their terror was hidden beneath layers of a driven need to find their boys, and the thoughts of what they would do when they found those responsible. They had discussed that along the way, and had a plan.

They walked for hours, ignoring their exhaustion, hunger, and thirst. Their instincts, so well honed and primitive, guided them to a white house with a picket fence around it. Both Fran and Diana could sense the presence of their children near. Carefully, cautiously, they went around the back of the house and found a storm cellar nestled in the ground. it was padlocked shut. Fran, having forseen that very problem happening to them, pulled a bobby pin from her curly hair and started to pick the lock until it finally clicked open.

Diana felt an adrenaline rush sweep through her body so quickly that it made her ears pound. They each opened one side of the double doors before letting their eyes adjust to the complete darkness of the room. They made their way down the wooden stairs with all the silence and stealth of a cat.

They were hopelessly unprepared for what they saw.

Derek and Spencer were each tied to a chair on different sides of the room. both were facing walls so they couldn't see the other. Morgan had a bandana over his mouth, and Spencer sported a ball gag. There was a nail in the ground, chaining their chairs and, consequently, them, to the ground.

The onslaught of soft light made a shot of unease run through both of their stomachs. Was their captor back? When their eyes adjusted, they thought that they had been drugged because they saw their mothers standing there with concern etched onto their faces. They looked so much older than they were- a side effect of their constant worrying over their children.

Derek was closer to the doors, and Fran rushed to him. She put a finger to her lips, urging him to be quiet. She immediately set to work untying his hands. It wasn't easy, as the ropes were tied so expertly that they refused to come undone. However, after several minutes of struggling, they came off. Although his wrists were chafed, Derek ignored the pain and removed the bandana from his face and spat the balled up handkerchief that had been in his mouth onto the dirt floor. Fran next began to unlock the cuff that tethered her son to the chair. after being expertly jimmied open, Derek was free at last.

Diana's panic was pushed aside and channelled into taking care of Spencer. She removed the ball gag from his mouth first, before starting on the ropes that bound him. She was painfully aware that Spencer was at the end of a wooden staircase, and, should his captor be close by, they would both be exposed and vulnerable. Diana refused to let her nerves get the better of her. Her focus was not derailed by her concern. As soon as Fran freed her son, she went to work on the lock that chained Spencer to the chair. They finished in perfect synchronization.

Their children freed from their bondage made them feel as though a weight was off of their chests for a brief moment. Then, they thought about the captor.

"The two of you need to stay down here and do exactly as we ask of you, alright?" Asked Diana.

Morgan and Reid shared a look, but didn't dare argue with her.

They took their respective places before Diana and Fran climbed the stairs and opened the door.

Together, they crept through the house. It was midnight, and they could hear snoring coming from upstairs. they looked under the kitchen sink and found a bottle of ether and a washcloth. They snuck up the stairs and opened the door. A larger man with coal black hair and fair skin was snoring. Fran went up to the back of his bed and pinned his arms behind his head while Diana held the rag to his nose until he surrendered. They picked him up, brought him downstairs and brought him down to the basement. Derek and Spencer did as they were instructed and held up their kidnapper while Diana tied him to the chair and Fran chained him to the chair. Spencer put the ball gag into his mouth, and Derek used his cell phone to call the BAU and tell them what happened.

However, Diana and Fran were far from through with the man that took their sons.

"Why don't you both go upstairs and have some nice, hot tea. We'll take it from here." Fran smiled. They shrugged, but did what they were told.

The two mothers quickly turned their smiles into grimaces as they took in the man who dared take their children. They waited until he was awake to do anything. He groaned. They shared a sadistic smirk.

"Wh-Wha? What happened?"

"Hello." Said Fran politely.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

"You don't recognize your own storm cellar?" Diana spat, so enraged that she was shaking.

"Who are you?" He barked.

"We're your worst nightmare." Said Fran, eyes narrowed. "Dead man walking." She murmured under her breath.

Diana stepped forward. "Perhaps I should make something clear to you, as you seem like another stupid neanderthal to me: No one, and I mean _NO ONE_ kidnaps my son and lives to tell the tale." Her voice was bone chillingly cold and calm. Before he could speak, she hit a pressure point on his neck, and he screamed.

Morgan and Reid rushed down at the sound, thinking their mothers were in danger. They watched as their mothers tormented their kidnapper. For half a second, they felt sorry for him.

By the time the BAU arrived, the man, whose name, they found out, was Malcom Sanders, was begging for mercy. He confessed to kidnapping them using ether to try and use their security clearance to hack into the FBI's database to bring down the government. Once he was cuffed and in the care of the BAU, The mothers turned to their sons who were looking at them as if they were strangers. Diana went up the stairs and hugged her son, who, though surprised, returned the hug. It didn't take long for Fran to follow suit.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Diana whispered. Spencer half smiled.

"Sorry, Mom."

"The same goes for you, Derek."

"Yes ma'am."

They took the BAU jet to get their mothers back home. Reid and his mother sat in the back, Spencer reading to her as he tried to distract her from her fear of flying. Morgan and his mother sat in the front, talking quietly so as not to disturb the rest of the sleeping team.

Just before they got off the plane, Fran and Diana shared a look and a hug as Derek and Spencer watched, smiling.

There was nothing more powerful than a mother's love.


End file.
